I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.

Betrayal

Lee spun around the villain's left blade, deflecting the other off of his exoskeleton. "Is this all you can do?"

The villain roared, slashing with both blades and Lee spun, drilling a fist into his side, sending him crashing into the wall.

"Too slow," Lee smirked. "How far are we?"

"A few more floors," Melissa said.

Lee nodded. He wasn't expecting the villains to actually try to kill them within two minutes of getting into the tower, but it apparently had progressed enough that they'd run out of patience. They started up the stairs, but within a floor and a half, a pair of villains began to shoot at them from higher up. Lee and Midoriya shot forward, Midoriya dropping one of the two as Lee dropped the other, both villains cratering the wall. A few minutes later, they stopped as they reached the room they were looking for, only to stop, looking in through the door to where someone in a lab coat with messy brown hair was typing on the computer.

"Papa," Melissa whispered.

"Whoa, it is!" Midoriya said.

"Why'd he on the top floor, though?" Melissa asked.

"Hostage, maybe?" Lee offered.

"We have to help him!" Melissa said.

"Right!" Midoriya nodded.

They all started forward silently, Toru carefully checking the corners before continuing. However, as they reached the door, they stopped.

"Finally, I've gotten it back," Melissa's father said. "All my research, and they just took my device away from me. But now it's mine."

"Just like we planned," the other man, a heavier blond one, said. "And it looks like the villains are holding things down."

"Thank you," Melissa's father said. "I couldn't have done any of this without your help, Sam."

"Papa," Melissa said, both men freezing and spinning toward her.

"Melissa...no!" her father breathed.

"Miss, what are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"What does he mean that it's like you planned it?" Melissa asked, walking forward. "Don't tell me that...you're the one behind this? This was all you? Just to steal something? No! It can't be true!"

"Yes, it is," the man finally said.

"Papa!" Melissa gasped. "How could you!?"

"The professor is only trying to get back what was stolen," Sam said. "The invention inside this briefcase can amplify someone's Quirk."

"Wait, is that even possible?" Midoriya asked.

"Yes," Sam said. "It's still being tested, of course, but unlike with drugs, this device can magnify someone's Quirk without doing any damage to their body or brain. Yet despite that, our sponsors confiscated this prototype and our research data, then they demanded the product be abandoned! They worried that something like this would drastically affect the structure of superhuman society. Fearing chaos, governments from different nations put pressure on your father to end it. That's why we did this. We hired people to pretend to be villains to stage a hostage situation in order to give us the opportunity to steal back our prototype."

"I don't understand," Melissa said. "There's something I'm missing, right? You'd never do this!"

"I'm so sorry," her father said.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Melissa said. "THE PAPA I KNOW AND LOVE WOULDN'T ACT LIKE A VILLAIN NO MATTER WHAT! ! ! So why then? Why!? I had to for All Might. You two probably aren't aware of this, but even before he burned out his Quirk trying to defeat that villain, his Quirk levels were dropping. He was getting weaker. I invented this device to try and stabilize his Quirk. But then he burned it out. I thought the device could still help him, so I made plans to get it back. But now that he's here I realize, his Quirk is gone. So now I have to figure out how to bring it back, but I know this device will be the base for that technology. You, Midoriya, have a Quirk very similar to his. I might be able to find a way to duplicate your Quirk and give the copy to All Might. And then this device could amplify it and he'd be able to be back to where he should be."

"They risked their lives," Melissa said. "Deku and his classmates risked so much!" She pulled the bandages off of a cut on her forearm she'd gotten from the blade villain before they'd realized he was there. "Do you know how dangerous this was!? How hard we were trying to save everyone on the island!?"

"No, what do you mean?" her father asked. "The villains are fake! It's all supposed to be an act!"

"Of course it was a performance," a voice off to the left said, everyone spinning to the door and seeing what Lee assumed was the lead villain.

He had on a white coat, a metal mast made of strips of metal running up and to his left, and dark brown makeup where his mouth, nose, and eyes showed to hide his skin color. beside him was a man with a thin build, long blond hair, and a mask over the top of his face with a lense over his right eye.

"But the real act was pretending we weren't criminals," the boss continued.

"You're the leader, huh?" Lee asked, stepping forward, Toru stepping back behind him. "I'll handle this."

The man grinned as Lee exploded forward. However, when Lee tripped the man, then pinned him to the ground, the man twisted, setting his hands on the metal on back of Lee's hands. Suddenly, the arms of his exoskeleton contorted, shredding his suit's sleeves and twisting around his arms, binding them together. Lee staggered backward, eyes wide in surprise.

"You can manipulate metal," Lee said.

"That's right," he nodded. "You're at a severe disadvantage here."

He set his hand on the wall, a railing behind him coming alive and wrapping around Midoriya, slamming him into the wall, pinning him there. As soon as he had, he ordered Sam to bring him the case, which Sam did. When Melissa's father asked him why, Sam blamed him for allowing the device to be taken in the first place, saying if he didn't receive fame and payment his entire life was a waste of time. As payment for his services, the villain shot him in the arm. However, when he tried to kill him, Melissa's father got in the way, taking the bullet in his place.

"PAPA!" Melissa shrieked, running forward, only for the villain to slam the gun into her head, launching her backward.

The villain stomped on her father's back. "Trying to play the hero after all this? Too late for that!"

He spun suddenly as Lee slammed his arms into his chest, hurling him away from the two scientists. Then, he sped over to Midoriya just as Midoriya broke his arms free.

"Pull it apart," Lee said. "A hundred percent."

Midoriya nodded, focusing before pulling at the metal around Lee's arms. It wasn't fast, but after a few seconds he had all but one loop loosened. Lee grunted in effort working his arms out of it before opening the front of his shirt and jacket, ripping what was left off as he turned to the villain.

"Not bad," the man said. "You've still got some fight in you. I like that. But you're in over your head."

"No," Lee said, reaching back and pulling the shoulder pins of his exoskeleton out. "You are."

The arms dropped to the floor and he hurled the pins at his speed, sending one punching through the other villain's knee, crippling him as the other grazed the boss under the arm. Lee pressed his gauntlets' switches, the gauntlets coming alive and covering his arms. As soon as they had, Lee turned, his electricity screaming over him before he axe kicked down through the metal still pinning Midoriya, not hurting him but freeing him. Midoriya dropped to the floor, both turning back to the villain. However, just as they did, a half-dozen massive metal pillars shot down from the ceiling, exploding into them. Lee groaned, opening his eyes to see Midoriya's forearms holding back the pillars, his gauntlets having survived the impact.

"These things are amazing," Lee sighed. "You okay?"

Yeah," Midoriya said, just as an announcement declared that the security had returned to normal mode. "She did it."

"Yeah," Lee nodded. "Now, shall we get out of here?"

Midoriya nodded, pulling his fist back as Lee pulled it back as well, his arm blurring. Then, they both punched, the pillars exploding for half their length, scattering debris around the room. They looked around, seeing Sam was still there, but had passed out, but Melissa's father had been taken by the villain, along with the briefcase containing the prototype. They both turned, quickly running along the trail of blood leading out of the room. As they ran, however, Lee heard a helicopter powering up and raced ahead, his electricity screaming over his body. He reached the roof and shot past the helicopter as the villain hurled Melissa toward it, Lee slowing enough to catch him safely before taking off again and skidding to a stop beside the door as Midoriya reached them.

"Are you ready for this, Deku?" Lee asked.

"Yeah," Midoriya nodded. "We can do this."

"I don't believe it," the man said. "That guy was right on the money with you. You really are too fast to be able to deal with. Never would have thought that could really be possible."

"That guy?" Lee asked. "Who?"

"The guy who wants this prototype," the villain said, pulling it out of the case and putting it on his head. "Says I should use this if you're one of the ones I end up having to face to get away. Said I would only be able to beat you if you're wearing your exoskeleton, not your exosuit. Not sure what the difference is, but given the rib design on that gear of yours, I'd wager it's the exoskeleton. I'm impressed he knows so much about you. He said he hates you, but to know that much about you...hate must be an understatement."

"Instant," Lee growled. "Be careful."

Just then, the tower began to all but rip itself apart. Massive pipes and beams began to tear free of the rooftop below him, allowing him to stand on them. More pipes broke free behind him, waving like tentacles for a moment before his Quirk's influence began to spread, drawing the metal of the tower to himself rapidly. The massive construct grew rapidly, rising steadily upward.

"David Shield's genius lives up to its reputation!" the man shouted. "I can tell my Quirk's growing more powerful! It feels amazing! I'm never taking this thing off!"

"Be ready, Deku," Lee said quietly as they watched the construct grow. "You'll need as much speed and power as you can use."

Midoriya nodded, both preparing to charge. Finally, it stopped, forming a massive, armless, body-like object with enormous tentacles behind it. Then, Lee and Midoriya were off. A massive pillar of steel shot toward them, only for Lee to flash under it, then jump, his electricity screaming as his blurred fist slammed into it from below, the pillar exploding and falling harmlessly to the ground. As it did, Lee leapt off of the broken section, streaking along the rest, which began to crumble behind him. As he streaked along the pillar, Midoriya leapt over a pillar, allowing it to smash into the roof of the tower, then sped along it. Two more pillars flashed down at Lee, only for him to laugh in amusement, streaking forward and easily evading them. He launched himself at the villain, only for a massive cloud of bits of scrap metal the size of his torso to suddenly explode from the creation's sides, exploding into his chest and arms, which shielded his head. He bounced off his spine and flipped backward, skidding backward ten feet before exploding forward again. Midoriya launched himself from the pillar he was on to a massive tentacle of scrap metal streaking toward Lee, exploding through it. Lee jumped, stepping off the falling pieces of metal before flipping in front of Midoriya. Without needing to be told, Midoriya slammed a punch into Lee's foot, Lee pushing off at the same time and rocketing forward.

A pair of tentacles swung down at him from above, but Midoriya suddenly launched himself up from below, exploding through both. Lee grinned, streaking toward the villain, only for the villain to grin. Then, a massive cube of scrap metal shot up from below Lee. It wasn't as fast as him, but he couldn't change direction or slip past it in time. He swore, flipping and slamming both feet into it, skidding across its surface before leaping off the back edge, only for a steel pillar to crash into him, sending him bouncing across the roof again. He managed to get his feet to the ground, both blurring as they slammed into it rapidly, slowing him to a stop just shy of the edge and he wiped blood away from his left eye.

"Alright, you're not bad," Lee said, just as Midoriya bounced backward to him, Lee catching him.

"Again," Midoriya growled.

"Right," Lee nodded.

Both shot forward again, but just as they did, the villain swiped a hand, a dozen massive scrap cubes exploding down indiscriminately on the roof of the tower. Lee got Melissa and her father out of harm's way, but in exchange, a pillar exploded into his side, bouncing him across the roof. He flipped, skidding backward on his feet just as Midoriya leapt off a pillar at the criminal, only for a half-dozen to explode into him, blasting him into the roof. Lee grit his teeth. This wasn't going well. There were too many attacks at once. Even with his speed and Midoriya's power, they couldn't keep up. He walked over to Midoriya as Midoriya stood.

"And you break through the pillars if you go all out?" Lee asked.

"Probably, yes," Midoriya nodded. "What about you?"

"I might be able to get his attention," Lee said. "At least for most of his attacks. Since Instant is the one who told him to kill me, he'll probably target me more than you. If I focus on evasion, I can avoid his strikes."

Midoriya nodded. "Take the lead, then."

Lee nodded and exploded forward, lightning screaming across his body as he raced forward. A dozen steel pillars erupted from the roof ahead of him, only for him to flip over them. As he landed, however, a massive cloud of debris exploded forward.

"Die!" the villain shouted.

Then, a massive wave of ice exploded into existence, catching and blocking the debris. Lee grinned. Perfect timing. He shot up the ice like a ramp, exploding from the end of it just as Midoriya leapt at the villain from off to the side. A massive pillar exploded toward both of them, but before either could hit, Todoroki froze the one heading for Lee and Bakugo blasted the one heading for Midoriya apart with an AP Shot. Lee pulled his arm back, his forearm blurring before exploding through the metal. As soon as he was clear of the pillar, one of the massive tentacles slammed into him, exploding into the ground on top of him.

"Lee!" Midoriya shouted, just before a scrap cube crashed into him, shattering and sending him crashing to the ground, Todoroki using ice to block the debris from landing on him.

After a minute, acid began to eat through the tentacle Kyoka using her boots to blast it off of him before Iida grabbed him and leapt out of the way of more of the tentacle collapsing. Lee groaned, his left arm and a few ribs broken and his skull cracked and a gash in his head bleeding heavily.

"This is bad," Iida said. "There are just too many attacks to block at once."

"Instant chose a good pawn," Lee said, standing. "Except, it doesn't seem quite right."

"What do you mean Instant chose a pawn?" Mina asked, using slime to stop his head from bleeding.

"He said someone who knows me really well and wants me dead told him to use the prototype to kill me," Lee said. "But if Instant wanted me dead, he'd use his team, right? That was why he got them. Instant has more faith in my abilities than this."

"I would think so," Mina nodded. "Why haven't you electrocuted him through his attacks? They're all metal, right?"

"There's too much," Lee said. "In addition to several pipes acting as grounding cables, the electricity would also disperse too much to affect him."

Mina nodded.

"What's the plan?" Todoroki asked.

Lee took a few breaths before forcing himself to his feet. "Bakugo, the fast you move with Howitzer Impact, the stronger it is, right?"

Bakugo nodded.

"Todoroki, freeze everything that comes at us," Lee said. "Midoriya, go. Direct assault."

Midoriya nodded, charging. As he did, Lee grabbed Bakugo and exploded forward, flashing past Midoriya before leaping into a spin, hurling Bakugo. Bakugo instantly began to add his explosions to spin himself. As he shot toward the villain, the villain hurled a half-dozen scrap cubes at Bakugo, only for Todoroki to freeze them, then Lee to flash around using a pipe and launch himself at the falling ice cubes, exploding through the three that were aimed at Bakugo. The villain shouted in effort, forming a massive steel wall in front of himself, only for it to freeze just before Bakugo's Howitzer Impact went off. Unlike its normal, enormous explosion, this time, the explosion was almost half the size of the tower, obliterating almost all of the villain's structure. Then, Midoriya launched himself at the villain.

"I'll rip this whole tower apart!" the villain roared, all of the scrap from his construct slamming together into a massive cube bigger than the roof of the tower.

He sent it flying directly at Midoriya, but before it could reach him, Lee exploded upward from a jump, grabbing Midoriya and flipping over the edge of the cube, then exploding forward to the edge before hurling Midoriya like an arrow. A dozen steel pillars shot forward to stop him, but Midoriya used his augmented speed to explode through them, shattering the gauntlet on his left arm. Then, as he streaked toward the villain, who once again began to form a wall of metal in front of himself for protection, Lee shot down the back side of the cube, getting to the ground only to once again explode upward. He roared in effort, lightning screaming over his body before his entire arms blurred at his sides, his fists exploding into the underside of the falling block again and again, trying to keep it airborne just long enough to miss the tower. Midoriya's strike would blow it away, but only if it didn't crush the tower first. Before he could fall, a pillar of ice appeared below him, a second appearing beside him with Bakugo and Todoroki on it, Bakugo sending off a continuous stream of massive explosions as Todoroki's flames exploded into the underside of the cube.

Then, just as massive cracks shot along Lee's gauntlets, Midoriya's strike hit. The blast was even bigger than Lee had expected, and completely obliterated the remains of the villain's structure, the concussion of the impact slamming into the cube and sending it flying away from the island and out to sea. However, it also hurled Todoroki, Bakugo, and Lee out into the open air.

"Lee!" Toru shrieked.

Lee swallowed hard, looking at the other two, seeing that Bakugo was trying futilely to fire off explosions, having run out of steam, and Todoroki was barely conscious from overheating. Then, a massive whip of purple balls slammed into all three, stopping them before hauling them back up onto the roof. Once they were there, Lee vibrated his body to break free, breaking the other two free as well before grabbing Mineta in a hug and sighing in relief.

"You little pervert!" Lee laughed in relief. "Nice catch! Thank you so much!"

Mineta smiled proudly as Lee set him on his feet just in time for Lee's gauntlets to crumble.

"Lee!" Mina, Toru, and Momo all cried, grabbing him in a bone-crushing hug of their own, aggravating his ribs and arm and making him yelp in pain.

However, none of them payed it any mind in their relief, all three turning and grabbing Mineta in a group hug that turned his face scarlet, then almost made him faint when all three kissed him on the cheeks.

"You earned it, Mineta," Lee smiled.

"Yes, you saved us, Mineta," Todoroki agreed. "Thank you."

Mineta grinned widely, giving him a thumbs up. Lee looked over at the remains of the scrap, seeing the villain hanging from a piece of scrap metal by his coat, blood coating him from his face where he'd coughed it up, and from a gash in his back where the metal had caught him. Lee sighed, dropping on to a chunk of metal and sighing. Within seconds, his girls had their arms around him again, more gently this time.

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